The Return to Hogwarts

However, this money was not squeezed from the Blaine family's meager assets, but rather a private donation, and had nothing to do with the Blaine family. If the young master really came to him demanding the money back, he could explain it this way.

"Mr. Lawrence, please get in the car—"

The driver, braving the howling wind, tried to hold up a black umbrella for him, but the splashes of water bouncing off the ground still soaked his trouser legs. The cold rain seeped down his damp trousers and soaked his socks, making Lawrence feel uncomfortable.

The driver opened the door of a dark blue Rolls-Royce parked by the roadside for Lawrence, bowing slightly to invite him in. To the driver's surprise, Mr. Lawrence did not step into the car. Instead, he turned around and stood quietly in the rain, gazing at the orphanage they had just left for a long time.

"I want to take a walk alone, Sang—"

Under Sanker's slightly surprised gaze, Mr. Lawrence took the umbrella from his hand, and then, without explaining further, opened the umbrella and turned to walk away along the way he had come.

"Mr. Lawrence?" the driver, Sanke, asked, at a loss.

"You should go back first, Sang--"

Lawrence's aged, deep voice came through the rain.

"I want to be alone for a while. Are you worried that I won't be able to find my way back?"

Sang's voice was drowned out by the sound of the rain, and Lawrence did not hear it.

Perhaps it was the pressure of the heavy rain on the wide umbrella that made Lawrence grip the cold umbrella handle tightly with his hands, which were already showing signs of age spots, and his back was not as straight as it had been in the orphanage.

He walked very slowly, and after only a few steps, he stood still, staring blankly at the old-fashioned shops on both sides of the gloomy street. He didn't even notice that Sangke, who was sitting in the driver's seat, was starting his car and casting a worried look at him as he drove away.

In a daze, he seemed to see young Master Blaine, dressed in tattered clothes, going in and out of these shops, and then his eyes became sore.

At the corner at the end of the road, a bicycle appeared, its specially designed back seat carrying heavy packages. Judging from the style of the raincoat worn by the person riding this cumbersome bicycle, it was probably a postman from the post office.

The heavy packages, the slippery ground, and the fierce wind and rain made riding the bicycle difficult, and even from a distance, Lawrence could hear the postman's cursing.

Lawrence took another step.

He had only spent a short time with the young master, a mere two hours, but judging from the young master's resolute refusal to accept the Blaine family's assets, the young master and the master were almost identical in character—proud and stubborn.

Coming from an orphanage and being so young, the young master's financial situation couldn't possibly be good, as he still needed to support the orphanage. Even so, he refused a large inheritance. His father clearly loved the young master's mother, but he couldn't accept being deceived.

Lawrence sighed heavily, his cloudy eyes filled with confusion.

He devoted his entire life to the Blaine family, caring for the young master's father and grandfather, witnessing the family's rise to power, and then its rapid decline, like a fleeting moment of glory. No, it wasn't decline; the Blaine family collapsed after the master fell ill.

In his old age, the Blaine family disappeared, seemingly suggesting that his devoted life had been meaningless.

Perhaps the old man had found peace before his death, but Lawrence had to admit that he was unwilling to accept it; he couldn't bear to see the Blaine family disappear.

There is only one way to prevent the Blaine family from disappearing completely: bring the young master back into the family.

This doesn't mean that the young master possesses exceptional business or political acumen. His investigation only revealed that the young master came from this orphanage, but after leaving, he couldn't find any information about where the young master was or what he did. But as long as the young master is willing to return home, the Blaine family will exist.

Wow!

A gust of wind swept in from behind, and the glass windows of the shops on both sides of the street rattled incessantly as if an earthquake had struck.

"Oh!"

Lawrence let out a soft cry of surprise. Distracted by the gust of wind, he had his umbrella blown away, and his hat tumbled through the air, flying across the street and, by sheer coincidence, into a narrow gap between two buildings!

The large umbrella tumbled across the ground, flying dozens of feet in the blink of an eye before crashing into the mailman who was struggling to maintain his balance on his bicycle.

Clang--

The unfortunate postman suddenly felt dizzy and fell heavily to the ground. The heavy packages on the back of his bicycle snapped their ropes and tumbled everywhere. One of them even crashed into the low guardrail separating the sidewalk and the roadway, and a corner of the cardboard box buckled.

The umbrella was swept into the sky by the gale and could not be retrieved no matter what. But his hat, which was a gift from Mr. Blaine, might still be salvageable.

But after a moment's hesitation, Lawrence started jogging toward the postman, after all, it was his lost umbrella that had caused him to fall.

"Oh, thank you, sir--"

The mailman, whose foot was stuck in the bicycle frame, was cursing and struggling to free himself when a well-dressed and gentlemanly old man suddenly appeared beside him and tried to help pull his stuck ankle.

“No need to thank me, sir—” Lawrence smiled apologetically, “It was my umbrella that bumped into you—”

The postman's lips tightened, and he looked unhappy, but he couldn't say anything. After all, the old man didn't look young, and it wasn't easy for him to control such a large umbrella in that gust of wind.

After muttering a few under his breath, the postman focused on dealing with the bicycle frame that had gotten stuck to his own feet.

Fortunately, it wasn't a complicated matter. Lawrence struggled to lift the frame that was pressing on his ankle, and the mailman pedaled hard twice, managing to get free.

After helping the postman to his feet, Lawrence quickly walked to the side of the street and picked up the large cardboard box with a dented corner.

Bang, bang, bang—

The fall seemed to have startled the contents of the cardboard box. After Lawrence picked it up, the startled little creature inside suddenly became active, bumping against the box walls.

"Oh, what could this be?"

With a quick glance, Lawrence noticed that the mailing address on the cardboard box was that of the Hass Orphanage, and he asked curiously.

"who knows--"

The postman already knew where the box was meant for; all the packages in his van were going to Hass Orphanage. He noticed the old man was having some difficulty carrying the box, so he quickly took it from him.

"Perhaps these are pets donated by kind-hearted people to the orphanage to keep the children from getting bored. In my opinion, it's just adding to Mrs. Reagan's troubles. Well then, sir—"

The mailman secured the slightly damaged box firmly to the back seat before speaking to Lawrence, who was soaking wet.

"It was just an accident, don't worry about it. I'll handle the rest of the packages myself. Maybe you should check if you can retrieve your hat, if it didn't fall too deep—"

The postman shrugged and said he had seen what had just happened.

"I hope so--"

Lawrence smiled wryly and didn't insist on helping the postman collect the hat. After all, getting wet in the rain wasn't pleasant for an old man like him. If he could retrieve the hat, it would at least protect him from some of the wind and rain, helping him find a shop that sold umbrellas.

I was lucky—

When Lawrence stepped over the low railing and walked to the narrow gap in the building that had trapped his hat, he took a closer look under the dim streetlights and breathed a sigh of relief.

The hat wasn't buried too deep; you could easily pick it up by squeezing in and taking a few steps. And thanks to the shelter of the buildings on either side, the hat didn't get wet from the rain.

It took Lawrence some effort to squeeze into the alley, but he was pinned down by the walls on both sides and couldn't bend over. He could only laboriously use his feet to lift the hat back into his hand, which was as difficult as an acrobatic feat for the old and frail man. He was panting heavily when he finally managed to grab the hat.

Bang, bang——

Lawrence breathed a sigh of relief and gasped for breath. Just as he was about to squeeze to the outside, two crisp sounds suddenly came from across the street.

Chapter 770 Murder

2024-02-25

Two crisp thuds suddenly rang out in the gloomy world filled with the monotonous sound of falling rain. Amidst the disrupted descent of the rain, two men dressed in black coats and hats, with cold and stern expressions, suddenly appeared in front of the postman.

It appeared suddenly, yes, it truly appeared suddenly.

pat-

The postman was stunned. He stared wide-eyed at the two men who appeared in front of him, looking as if he had seen a ghost!

Lawrence frowned. He had only looked over when he heard the noise and hadn't seen the two men appear in the whole way, so he wasn't as surprised as the postman. But that didn't mean he wasn't aware that something bad was about to happen.

Because of the angle, Lawrence, who was squeezed in the gap, could see the two gloomy-faced men opposite the postman, but the two men could not easily see him. When the two men looked around warily, Lawrence quickly pulled his head back. The murderous atmosphere in the air made Lawrence's blood flow wildly in his old body!

"You - you -"

The postman's mouth was wide open, his cheeks bulging out so much that it looked as if he had an egg stuffed in one side of his mouth.

"Ghostly Phantom"

Even the most foolish postman knew these two men were up to no good; their eyes clearly blatantly displayed contempt and...

The mailman dropped the bicycle he had just managed to straighten and ran away. His instincts told him he had to get away from those two men if he didn't want to die. But how dare they kill someone in the street!

"All petrified--"

Of the two who descended, one of them had a brown stick protruding from his sleeve. His muttering was muffled by the sound of the rain, and Lawrence couldn't hear him at all, but that didn't stop his heart from pounding violently at the sight he saw.

Lawrence expected the two men to pull out a silenced pistol from his trench coat, and then, amidst the billowing smoke, it wouldn't be uncommon for this postman, who had somehow offended some powerful figure, to fall in a pool of blood. Having spent most of his life fighting alongside two patriarchs in the ruthless business world, Lawrence had witnessed such an event at least four or five times.

Then the truth was far more absurd than he had anticipated!

Wearing his reading glasses, Lawrence strained his eyes to barely make out one of the two people who suddenly appeared, a small stick emerging from his sleeve. Then, the rain was disrupted by the sudden gust of air, and the moment the wind ruffled the postman's raincoat, the fleeing postman froze!

like a statue!

The postman was in a running posture, which was quite comical, with one foot on the ground and the other raised in the air, while his two hands waved beside him.

It was clearly impossible to maintain balance in this position. Under Lawrence's horrified gaze, the postman tumbled to his side on the wet ground, landing heavily but still unable to move.

The fallen postman was facing the narrow gap across the street. He immediately remembered that an old man was hiding in that gap. He tried desperately to call for help, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a sound. He couldn't even blink, and could only let the rain wash over his pale, desperate face.

Da da da--

The two men started walking at the same time. They passed by the fallen postman without even glancing at him, but instead focused their attention on the package on the back of the bicycle, which had fallen over again.

Lawrence didn't dare call himself a big shot, but following the two gentlemen, he considered himself a man who had seen some of the world. But what happened next completely overturned his understanding of the world!

A man brandished his stick again, and then several packages lying on the ground trembled slightly and slowly floated up from the ground. These packages drifted past them, displaying the sides with the sender and recipient addresses.

Bang, bang, bang

Strange noises emanated again from the box whose corner had shrunk.

A man swung a stick, and the box with a loud bang opened, throwing out a bunch of colorful and gaudy boxes and bags. But that wasn't what Lawrence was focused on. He stared wide-eyed at several things that were fixed in mid-air by some inexplicable force, yet were still struggling. Finally, he figured out what was making the noise!

It looks like a frog, but... it's black?